Grow Your Own #37 Round-up
November 2, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Grow Your Own
Based on the emails I’ve received lately, my announcement of the Grow Your Own winter hiatus seems to have sparked concern, and I want to thank everyone for thinking of us. We are all well, no health problems, home life is just a little overwhelming right now. Caring for three little boys, two of whom have special needs, is a challenge and I have come to a place where I need a little break so I can find some balance at home. For now I will continue working in our garden, writing, and photographing, but without the self-imposed deadlines. I’ve dropped all freelance work for a little while and am assessing other things I participate in that have deadlines. This is not a permanent change, just a temporary adjustment to give us a breather. I will continue to write Grow Your Own posts in the coming months, I just can’t keep up with organizing an event until things settle down at home. Thanks to everyone for your understanding and support.
I hope you will continue to share your Grow Your Own posts on your blogs and will join us when Grow Your Own returns in the spring. Read more
Percy Train Birthday Cake
My husband Michael, the engineer (aerospace, not trains), is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I bake the cakes and whip up the frosting and he does all the assembly and decorative work. Here’s his story on how we made the Percy train birthday cake.
Monkey Boy’s favorite toy is trains so for about six months prior to his third birthday we heard all about how he wanted a Thomas the Tank Engine cake, then just a couples months before his birthday he changed his mind and asked for Percy, the green number 6 train. Green is his favorite color, so it wasn’t a big surprise.
The Rainbow Drive-In
This is a guest post from my husband, Michael, who travels the world and brings home stories of his many culinary adventures.
When traveling to even familiar places it’s nice to know a local. My friend Donn has lived in Hawaii all his life and when I asked him about the Rainbow Drive-In his face broke out in a grin as he chuckled, “It’s not very touristy.” In Honolulu with all the visitors, crowds, and overhype something like this simple drive-in has a certain appeal. Read more
Zucchini and Tomato Gratin
July 31, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Grow Your Own, Vegetables
We’ve reached that magical point in the summer where the tomatoes are starting to ripen. For a couple days we brought in only a handful of sweet cherry, grape, sun gold, or yellow pear tomatoes, but in the last few days we’ve brought in almost nine pounds of tomatoes and have more on the way. As long as something devastating doesn’t happen (knock on wood) we’re set to have a good crop of tomatoes. Right now we are harvesting Early Girl, Brandywine, Mr. Stripey, Cherokee Purple, and Roma, and we have some other varieties that aren’t ready yet but should be soon. Read more
Campfire Pies
When we began planning our annual trip to the Meyers family cabin in the Adirondacks, Michael announced that he wanted to make campfire pies, a favorite from his childhood camping trips. I racked my brain from my Girl Scout camping years but could not conjure up an image of what campfire pies might look like. We always made s’mores and banana boats, but I could not remember ever once making campfire pies. He gave me a brief description and assured me I would like them. Read more
Feed Dad Well on Father’s Day
Need some ideas for planning a Father’s Day meal? Michael doesn’t typically ask to eat out for Father’s Day, he usually wants some of our home cooking, and these are some of his favorites.
Best wishes for a happy Father’s Day!
